Saar, Ferdinand von

Saar, Ferdinand von fĕr´dēnänt fən zär [key], 1833–1906, Austrian writer. His best works are his short stories, among them the two collections (1876, 1897) of Novellen aus Österreich [tales from Austria]. Saar was of the decadent school, and the people he portrayed were generally weak failures. Some of his later writings place him with the more sympathetic naturalists.